NEW YORK - The Columbia field hockey team's four-game
winning streak came to a halt Friday night as the Lions fell to Yale, 3-1, at
the Columbia Field Hockey Venue in a battle between two first-place Ivy League
squads.

Desi Scherf scored the Lions' lone goal off an assist from fellow
senior captain Leti Freaney at 44:19. Columbia junior goalkeeper Christie O'Hara
recorded eight saves and junior back Katie DeSandis added a defensive save,
bringing her Ivy-best season total to six.

Columbia (8-7, 4-2 Ivy League) was unable to overcome slow
start offensively. Yale (9-6, 5-1 Ivy League) outshot the Lions 12-0 in the
first half and had an 8-0 penalty corner advantage before halftime as well.

O'Hara recorded her first save of the day at the 3:56 mark,
turning away a shot from Yale's Taylor Sankovich off a penalty corner. The
Bulldogs stayed on the attack and team captain Erin Carter scored off an assist
from Dinah Landshut at 5:45 to give Yale a 1-0 lead.

Yale's lead grew to 2-0 when Erica Borgo tapped in a goal
off an assist from Mary Beth Barham.

Columbia came out of the break more aggressive and looked
poised for a second-half surge. Coming off a penalty corner taken by Scherf,
the Lions used a few quick passes around the circle before Freaney located
Scherf near the front corner for a tap-in goal to bring Columbia to within 2-1.

Yale responded with four shots over the next 10 minutes
before Columbia called a timeout at 60:20.

The Lions had a great scoring opportunity with a penalty
corner coming out of the timeout. Junior Paige Simmons fired a shot from just
inside the circle that was blocked and senior captain Carson Christus quickly
took the rebound for a second shot that went wide.

The Bulldogs extended their advantage to 3-1 at the 50:35
mark when Landshut found Carter once again on the left side after a corner
inbounds and a misdirected pass.

Yale had 19-5 shot and 11-3 corner advantages for the game.

Columbia closes out its non-conference schedule on Sunday
when it hosts Villanova at 1 p.m.